The concept is simple
enough, two wheels on the outside, almost like wheels for a roller blade and a
hard, fabric covered surface in between. What strikes you about this product is
just how hard it is. While foam rollers compress, the rolling surface here does
not. It remains stiff, firm, and delivers more bang for your buck than a
standard foam roller. The surface is suspended, and while you may muddy the
fabric with residual sweat, the surface remains clean. This means you can roll
on a track, a field, in your driveway, anywhere really, without damaging the
roller or soiling it. This particular model is about the length of a standard
ruler, meaning I can toss it in my bad and carry it around during cross country
or track meets.

That said, the roller’s density digs in. When I use it, it
feels as if I am getting manual therapy, Graston and such, the type of work
that relieves muscle adhesions and loosens up the legs. As an individual who
suffers from calf tightness, the TPQuadballer
can release the pain, set me to run, and then alleviate discomfort post
workout. While rolling isn’t for everyone, I recommend giving this model a look
as it retails for around $50 on Amazon,
given the day.

Sunday, October 5, 2014

I discovered Hector
and the Search for Happinessupon
viewing the theatrical trail for the now recently released film when I went to
see an independent movie over the summer. The book itself is rather simple—something
clean, pleasant, and almost antiseptic. Francois Lelord scripts a journey in
which Hector, seemingly disaffected by life as a psychiatrist within
traditional western society, ventures out and explores the world in search of
well, happiness. The text has pace, but beyond the idea of happiness: finding
it, understanding it, and questioning it, the plot is almost nonexistent. Thus,
it is part self-help, part mysticism, and part social commentary, all rolled up
into the premise of a novel (and now a successful series of them). The novel is
successful, but not through tension, but the journey itself (think Walter Mitty
but toned down).

Written with prose that is clean and simplistic, the text
takes you around the world, landing in China, Africa, and what one assumes the
United States, all in an effort for hector to grasp and understand the secrets
of society and man. Lelord opts for minimalism more often than not, eschewing
country names, product names, and even alluding to but not naming sex. Hector
strives for happiness and his journeys are the vehicle to get there. In the
end, we cannot truly know the answer, but we learn from his journey, we come to
understand what life is and what it could mean to many, if not just ourselves.
Such a fact makes the time spent reading the text and subsequently the film adaptation,
more than worth it.